Unfortunately Illidan lived through the week. 35% was the closest we were able to get him. So I think this week we are going to completely forgo Mount Hyjal and put all our time into Black Temple.

I realized that I never did make a PvP video like I said I was going to a while ago. This declaration came shortly after the poll asking what song best represented your character. I had decided Alice in Chains – Rooster best fit Drotara. So I think I still want to put together a short PvP video, but I am afraid it would be quite boring. As I currently don’t have any competitive Arena teams, it would be mostly Battleground stuff. It should be fun anyways.

Crushing People in Alterac Valley

So for all you Hunters out there, let’s talk about how to crush people in AV. First let’s cover a few basics:

Distance: For uninterrupted ranged damage, always try to be at max range. This is simple enough, but by hanging in the back of the pack you can unload for quite a while without being noticed.

Keep your pet nearby: Even if you are BM, for long, drawn-out offensive pushes or defensive stands don’t send your pet in. While it may be a minor annoyance to a caster, it will most likely die from AoE or someone who feels like targeting it. Keeping it alive so you can continually Bestial Wrath or have Focus Fire active is great. Sure, you lose out on your pet’s damage, but in AV you will not be low on that list at all.

Target the squishies: Sure there is a time and place to try to bring down that rampaging Warrior, but your physical DPS is going to be better suited to unloading on the Druid or Priest keeping him alive. Or perhaps the Mage casting Blizzard on the choke point. Bathe in the hugeness of your crits against them. :)

Don’t be afraid to sit-out: If you need to sit out and regain your mana from your uninterrupted ownage, do it. You are not going to be of much use with just Auto Shot.

All you Alliance folks can look away for a couple minutes if you don’t mind. ;)

They gone? Good. Let’s talk about Horde locations for the best wreckage possible. If you want to play Defense, the best possible choke point for you to be at is right here. If you played AV at all, this location looks familiar I am sure. Place Freezing Traps at the bottom of that hill, Flare the doorway and prepare to unload a barrage on anyone who dares step out.

The Alliance will come in packs (if they are smart. “I never credited the Alliance with an overabundance of brains and if your the best they got . . .”) so remember to pick appropriate targets. If they don’t come in packs . . . laugh at them while you and the other defense mow them down. I cannot emphasize how huge this choke point is. Lately the Alliance have been skipping Frostwolf Graveyard in favor of the rush. A defensive group of Horde can keep your base clear from multiple waves of Alliance. This is also a better point to hold the Alliance at instead of the main gate of the Horde Base for a couple reasons as well.

If the Alliance have Frostwolf you will have to withstand multiple waves very quickly without downtime.

The Alliance can jump the fence, essentially ignoring any defense at the gate.

If you have Hawkeye, you can shoot almost all the way to the flag.If you are more the offensive type, you might find yourself stuck trying to take Stormpike Graveyard. Lucky for us, we also have an amazing spot to mow down Alliance. Unfortunately I do not have a screenshot of it however. But I am sure you are familiar with it. As you ride up the road leading to Stormpike Graveyard, right before the road curves to the left the hill on the left side that creates the valley is your perch. You can run up this hill from the south side (the side where the Horde come from) and camp out on top of this hill in full view of Stormpike Graveyard. And if you have Hawkeye, you can shoot almost all the way to the flag. Be wary of Warriors or Rogues though, as they can Shadowstep/Intercept to you if you are too close. If you see them getting too close to the hill, back up to keep them out of range. Drop Frost Traps in front of you and have at it!

Akil’zon Gauntlet Made Easy!

OK Alliance Hunters, welcome back! So here is a little trick for all you venturing into Zul’Aman and looking to do a timed chest or two. This may get nerfed in the future, so don’t rely on it completely. In the image you can see two lines I added. The blue line is the general route you take to head up the Gauntlet leading to Akil’zon. The red line shows a short path leading to the side of the hill.

If you have a Warlock in your raid, have him target the Tempest by typing /tar Amani’shi Tempest and then sending a Phase-shifted Imp to attack him. The Imp will run up the side of the hill, Firebolt the Tempest, pulling him and 2 other mobs with him. Tanks need to be ready to pick these up very fast, as well as having a Counterspell ready for the Tempest so he comes all the way down the hill. With these mob dead, you can now clear up to Akil’zon without any birds or Warriors spawning. Good luck with the timed chests!

I was going to add some more stuff to this post, but it is really long already, so we will leave it at that for the day. Any questions, comments, suggestions, etc, please leave a comment and I will respond as soon as possible.

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About Drotara

Drotara (or BehemothDan) considers himself a geek on many levels. A web developer and programmer by trade, he has no shortage of geeky hobbies. When not fulfilling husband and daddy duties, he enjoys WoW, the WoW TCG, Magic: The Gathering, and great board games with friends and family.